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Shinto: A History Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition
by Helen Hardacre (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Distinguished scholar of Japanese religions and culture Helen Hardacre offers the first comprehensive history of Shinto [?], the ancient and vibrant tradition whose colorful rituals are still practiced today. Under the ideal of Shinto, a divinely descended emperor governs through rituals offered to deities called Kami. These rituals are practiced in innumerable shrines across the realm, so that local rites mirror the monarch's ceremonies. Through this theatre of state, it is thought, the human, natural, and supernatural worlds will align in harmony and prosper.

Often called "the indigenous religion of Japan," Shinto's institutions, rituals, and symbols are omnipresent throughout the island nation. But, perhaps surprisingly, both its religiosity and its Japanese origins have been questioned. Hardacre investigates the claims about Shinto as the embodiment of indigenous tradition, and about its rightful place in the public realm.

Shinto has often been represented in the West as the engine that drove Japanese military aggression. To this day, it is considered provocative for members of the government to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors the Japanese war dead, and this features as a source of strain in Japan's relations with China and Korea.

The Yasukuni Shrine is a debated issue in Japanese national politics and foreign relations and reliably attracts intensive media coverage.

Hardacre contends, controversially, that it was the Allied Occupation that created this stereotype of Shinto as the religion of war, when in fact virtually all branches of Japanese religions were cheerleaders for the war and imperialism.

The history and nature of Shinto are subjects of vital importance for understanding contemporary Japan, its politics, its international relations, and its society. Hardacre's magisterial work will stand as the definitive reference for years to come.

Oxford University Press

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"This brilliant study written in close dialogue with the most recent critical scholarship both in Japanese and English is a welcome addition to the existing literature on Shint=o history, a source of valuable teaching material, and more in general a must-read for all those interested in Shint=o and its interactions with society throughout Japanese history." -- Ugo Dessì, Cardiff University, Religious Studies Review

"Her portrayal of the history of Shinto is based on decades of her own research, and undoubtedly this work will occupy the rank of a standard work for a long time, both for students and specialists in the field. Shinto research will benefit greatly as a whole. After the turning point marked by the revolutionary approach of Kuroda Toshio, international research on Shinto has since then led to a sometimes ideological dogmatization of what might be said and not. Helen Hardacre's book gives a fresh breath to the debate, which can only deepen our further understanding of the still-puzzling topic of Shinto." -- Klaus Antoni, University of Tübingen, The Journal of Religion

"Shinto: A History is a well written and interesting book, worth the time of readers with an interest in Shinto or Japanese history in general." -- Kenneth J. Valencich, Reading Religion

"This brilliant study... is a welcome addition... a source of valuable teaching material, and more in general a must-read" -- Ugo Dessi, Religious Studies Review

"Her portrayal of the history of Shinto is based on decades of her own research, and undoubtedly this work will occupy the rank of a standard work for a long time, both for students and specialists in the field. Shinto research will benefit greatly as a whole. After the turning point marked by the revolutionary approach of Kuroda Toshio, international research on Shinto has since then led to a sometimes ideological dogmatization of what might be said and not. Helen Hardacre's book gives a fresh breath to the debate, which can only deepen our further understanding of the still-puzzling topic of Shinto." --Klaus Antoni, Journal of Religion

"Hardacre's achievement in this work will be hard to supersede. This book could be used in all kind of courses, from introductory or advanced undergraduate to graduate seminars, not only on Japanese religions but Japanese culture in general and even on comparative subjects. Students will benefit from the comprehensive and in-depth narration, while the book provides ample clues and opportunities for additional research and revisions. Shinto: A History, which in its comprehensive and encyclopedia nature does not even have a counterpart in Japanese, is a scholarly milestone that will orient for years the study of Shinto and Japanese religions as a whole."--Fabio Rambelli, Journal of Religion in Japan

"At nearly seven hundred pages, it is difficult to think of any adjective other than 'magisterial' to describe Hardacre's new survey on Shinto As the single most comprehensive book on Shinto, Hardacre's book is a must-read her focus on the problems of indigeneity and the public/private distinction moves the field forward considerably."--Jolyon B. Thomas, H-Net Reviews

"This work has been long anticipated. The culmination of a lifetime's dedication to the study of Japanese religions by a major scholar in the field, Shinto: A History is both authoritative and comprehensive. Professor Hardacre manages to lead us carefully and judiciously on a long journey through what can often be recalcitrant, complex material. The notoriously difficult question 'What is Shinto?' has finally been answered." --Richard Bowring, Professor Emeritus, Japanese Studies, University of Cambridge

"Shinto: A History is a milestone work for the study of Shinto. Hardacre provides a comprehensive vision to integrate the usually unrelated research on Shinto in the West and in Japan. Calling into question our conventional wisdom about Shinto, the author masterfully demonstrates that Shinto is a heterogeneous tradition that changed with time, and it encompasses not only shrine Shinto and state Shinto but also popular cultural practices including public festivals seemingly unconstrained by the Japanese emperor system." --Jun'ichi Isomae, Study of Religions, Research Department, International Research Center for Japanese Studies

"Hardacre's study is particularly useful for understanding the religious resources that the Japanese people drew on to build and maintain their local communities. Her subject is their worship of spirits. She argues that spirit worship emerged in earliest times at the core of nativist (Shinto) beliefs. This leads her to investigate in chronological sequence Shinto debates, rituals, and the practices of its priesthood in which the emperor was the chief priest. The result is a very rich, comprehensive account." --Herbert P. Bix, Professor of History, Binghamton University

"Hardacre, a professor of Japanese religions and society at Harvard, surveys the history of Shinto from ancient Japan to the present in this even-handed and detailed treatment of the topic. Few single-volume histories are this comprehensive... this will serve as a valuable primer for college classes, or for those simply interested in Shinto, and it will be sure to stand as the definitive factual treatment for years to come."--Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (1 November 2016)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 698 pages

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John L. Piper
5.0 out of 5 stars Shinto & BuddhismReviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2020
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I have been fascinated with Shinto since the mid 1970's when I spent a period living in Kashima Village a stones throw from the shrine and studying swordsmanship literally in the shadow of the jingu, being taught by Yoshikawa sensei whose family had been diviners and shrine protector's since the shrines beginnings, or before shrine was first built according to family traditions. Paying respect at the jingu early each morning when it was quiet & empty was a memorable experience and had a great effect on me.

Till reading this book I had always blindly accepted the usual statement of Shinto being the pure native 'faith of Japan', most shrine buildings obviously were strongly influenced by Buddhist architecture but I had never really considered the ethos of Shinto except in the terms of a pure, indigenous faith.

This publication has really opened my eyes, in a way the dual nature of Shinto has if anything strengthened it and as the Japanese do not see things as 'black or white' but seemingly as myriad shades of grey it has made it easier for Shinto & Buddhism to co-exist except when Shinto came to be used for political & nationalist reasons in the Meiji period.

So putting aside personal sentimental & spiritual reasons for my love of Shinto I can recommend this work to anyone who has a genuine, serious and open minded interest in the 'religions' of Japan - an obviously well researched volume, lots of paper for your money and hopefully a guide to future research, I would love to see an English language work on the history of the Kashima & Katori Jingu!
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Chris Winwood
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a phenomenally useful book. Giving in depth analysis of various aspect ...Reviewed in Canada on 26 January 2018
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This is a phenomenally useful book. Giving in depth analysis of various aspect of Shinto as well as arguing various points that may not have been well argued in previous literature. It also links Shinto with Japanese history and its impact on these specific periods of time enabling a deep understanding of how Shinto has impacted the development of Japan as a nation.

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Rini
5.0 out of 5 stars Academic GodsendReviewed in the United States on 10 May 2017
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This book is not really for the novice nor for the contemporary Shinto acolyte. Hardacre traces the development of Shinto from a more political and academic aspect than any spiritual discussion. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering her previous book was about State Shinto, and, in this book, she more or less pulls together the development of State Shinto from Shinto's pre-"Shinto" beginnings (This is a debatable point, which is why I said it like that).

She also discusses the structure of Shinto religion and a lot of technical information on shrine building and development, but for someone like me who is more interested in the development of "Modern Shinto" from the nascent writing in the 7th-8th C, it was a great read. She does discuss other historians and their take on Shinto, and, oddly, she spends very little time on actual discussion on what nationalism is, but, again, I suspect it is because she already expects the reader to have some background in the historical and historiographical discussions about "Shinto" and its involvement with Buddhism, politics, and the shift in Japanese mindset in the mid- to late-19th C.

People who dive into this without much historical background are likely to be overwhelmed by most of the rhetoric, although I have to hand it to Hardacre, her writing style is less bland than most writing in history. Her chapters around 1853 through 1952 (Black Ships through official end of US Occupation) were great from a historical point of view. Again, unsurprising considering her strengths. She writes right into the Heisei (now), but I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed at her lackluster discussion of it at the end, especially given the developments in Japan over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and their love of State Shinto, especially since the 1980s. I would like to see more movement into Abe's administration.

Again, her discussion of nationalism, bolstered by briefly mentioning scholars like Walter Skya, was rather lacking in such an ambitious book. But I give it 5 stars because, as a developing academic in Japanese/Shinto History, I loved this book.It was an in-depth read that I always wanted on the topic, warts and all.

In other words, for this book, it is better to have some knowledge of other writers in this area. She does take from well-known scholars in Shinto, such as DC Holtom and John Breen, but I'm not sure I would have got as much out of this without a long bibliographical reading list to back me up. She did lead me to Japan's Holy War: The Ideology of Radical Shinto Ultranationalism (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society) , which is an interesting look at Japanese Nationalism. Regardless, this is for scholars more than the public. Great book!
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Canon

658 reviews

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May 11, 2023

"Later on, a variety of new institutional combinations emerged... in response to a desire to discover how the Kami and Buddhist figures were related. The search for correspondences and connections led to institutions that — in effect — amalgamated worship of Kami and Buddhas," (97).

While looking for a book about Shinto, I had basically four desiderata:

1. A scholarly work that considers how "Shinto" has been historically constructed and contested, rather than regarding Shinto as a fixed system of doctrines or a unitary tradition.

2. Relatedly, a work that describes Shinto practices and beliefs rather than being a confessional or prescriptive work exhorting readers into "the Kami Way."

3. A work that will not only consider philosophical and religious texts, but other media and arts in its study of the history of Shinto.

4. A work that, as part of its scholarly lens, takes account of the various schools of thought or areas of debate in Shinto studies, and gives the reader a lay of the land.

This book checks off each requirement.

Hardacre, the Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society at Harvard, organizes her study of Shinto around two thematic dichotomies: the rhetoric of Shinto as "indigenous" versus "foreign" influences (e.g., Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, the West) and public space versus private space.

She shows how the poles of these two dichotomies have been shifting and unstable throughout the history of Shinto, from different depictions of what counts as “foreign” in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki to debates about religion and "the public good" in Japan in the 21st century, including Shinto’s institutional connections to conservative and reactionary political agendas. It concludes with a couple of case studies on how Kami are depicted in popular culture in Japan, including Princess Mononoke.

On the thorny question of the origins of Shinto, Hardacre argues that, although the term "Shinto" was not used at the time, its beginnings can be traced to the annual calendar of Kami rituals established by the Jingiryō law code in the 8th century, and the branch of government called the Jingikan or "Ministry of Divinities" that was created under the ritsuryō government to oversee the administration of Kami-related affairs at the imperial court and throughout the provinces. Hardacre then traces the various ligaments of tradition, family resemblances and paradigm shifts, through the centuries.

Some of the most intriguing Shinto intellectuals Hardacre discusses include Yoshida Kanetomo (1435-1511), who reversed the classic honji-suijaku framework, making the Kami rather than Buddhas fundamental; Kurozumi Munetada (1780-1850), leader of a Shinto-derived new religious order; and Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801) and Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843), both Kokugaku or "nativist" thinkers in the Edo period.

Norinaga's reading of The Tale of Genji as beyond moral rationality was particularly interesting, and Atsutane's theory of the afterlife as an invisible yet present realm was one of the most engaging parts of the book. I also really enjoyed the sections on religious pilgrimages and how Shinto practices gave rise to and were expressed in various arts, included dramatic performance and visual arts.

The book is organized chronologically in groups of chapters around the ancient period, the medieval period, the Edo period, the Meiji state and Imperial Japan, and post-1945 Japan to the contemporary era. It reads like and is probably used as a textbook, but in a way I appreciated: well-organized with plenty of subheadings, tables distilling information, and helpful images. I only wish the main table of contents had included the subheadings to more easily pinpoint specific sections.

Anyhow, if you're interested in learning about Shinto, I feel like (and I say this as a complete and utter layperson) this is the book to read.

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Kusaimamekirai

658 reviews

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July 6, 2017

Stretching from the earliest of creation myths up to the present day, this is as comprehensive study of Shinto as you’re likely to find. Examined from a wide spectrum of perspectives such as political, social, religious, gender, and others, I am in awe of Hardacre’s scholarship and her dedication in putting this book together.

All that being said, this is a scholarly text. While highly readable, there are a dizzying array of names, histories, and theories that seem overwhelming at times for someone like me with very little grounding in the subject. She presumes some basic knowledge of Shinto on the part of the reader and doesn’t spend an excessive amount of time in any one ares.

Personally, I felt she struck just the right balance between thoroughness and getting bogged down on any particular aspect. Of particular interest to me were the chapters following the Edo period and how Shinto went from something that in its earliest incarnations coexisted in harmony with Buddhism and other religions to something that was used by men of varying motives to promote nationalism to the exclusion of other beliefs.

In totality, what emerges is a belief system that has undergone multiple incarnations and despite an aging population, financial issues, and declining interest in “religion” on the whole, remains a vital part of many communities and the national identity.

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Charlie Canning

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April 10, 2018

The State of Shinto

When it comes to writing history, the use of chronology as an organizing principle may seem like an inevitable choice. An historian may have to account for something that is thousands of years old. What better place to start than at the beginning?

In the case of Helen Hardacre's Shinto: A History, however, I'm not so sure. This is because what constitutes Shinto and separates it from other religions (if Shinto was a religion) was not properly formulated until after the arrival of Buddhism and Confucianism. Even then, any proper analysis was / is murky due to the syncretism of Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism throughout Japanese history.

Beyond writing this review, my primary motivation in reading Hardacre's study was to understand how Shinto works. Although Hardacre did get there eventually, the largest part of Shinto: A History consists of an incredibly detailed account of the institutional / bureaucratic manifestations of Shinto from the Council of Divinities (Jingikan) in the seventh century to present day Heisei.

The clearest and most complete exposition of what Shinto is and how it operates in Japanese society is to be found roughly halfway through the book in a section on Shinto theologian Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843). Atsutane built on earlier Kokugaku (National Learning) thought that posited that the Emperor was at the head of the Kami and that the Kami were subjected to him in the same way that the subjects of the realm were. Atsutane's genius was in integrating ancestor worship and the simultaneous presence of spirits in the spiritual realm and the manifest world. (339) When combined with prayers at shrines and household kamidana, "The effect is to bind the worshipper into a hierarchy of Kami stretching from the emperor and the highest Kami down to the ancestors, from the beginning of time to the present, creating an image of a single community, including the ancestral Kami, united through worship of the Kami." (342) Ancestor worship is a lineage-based system – a bloodline, if you will – with the Kami as its source. The Emperor is a living Kami and all Japanese both alive and dead are related to this main line of transmission.

It is interesting to note that up until the death and resurrection of Christ, both Judaism and early Christianity were lineage based. Jesus was a direct descendent of King David. The passing of the baton to the Apostles rather than to an heir (Dan Brown notwithstanding) revolutionized the transmission system in the West. By making the Holy Spirit available to lowly fisherman, tax collectors, and Gentiles, Christ shifted the power structure from a bloodline or lineage-based system to a spirit system available to all.

As Hardacre makes clear, Shinto was predominantly a closed system expressly formulated to reflect Japanese circumstances. Although various Shinto theologians did attempt to fashion Shinto into a complete world view so that it could stand up to Buddhism and Confucianism, Shinto was never meant to explain how things worked outside of Japan. To put it another way, I can be a Buddhist or Confucian in my home state of Maine. But no matter how many times I climb Mt. Katahdin or worship our governor, I cannot practice Shinto there.

In the final third of Shinto: A History, Hardacre takes issue with the characterization of State Shinto as being largely responsible for the rise of Imperial Japan and its conduct during the Pacific War (1931-1945). Although a case could be made for Shinto being used to instill notions of patriotism and sacrifice among the populace, Hardacre writes that: "The Occupation view of Shinto in relation to militarism or nationalism was, however, unbalanced and distorted . . . virtually all other branches of Japanese religions up to 1945 similarly devoted themselves to prayers for military victory, exaltation of the martial spirit, and justification of Japan's supposed mission to rule all of Asia." (444)

The surprising thing to me is not that Buddhism was involved in the war effort – after all the Catholic Church gave Hitler the green light – but that a military man like Douglas MacArthur and his cohorts at SCAP understood Shinto almost as well as Hirata Atsutane did.

Those who see religion as a myth-based code of values subject to rational analysis fail to understand its true nature. Any religion worthy of its name is nothing more than a power structure designed to attract and deliver power to the spiritual entity that it serves. It does this by eliciting a pledge of devotion during a person’s lifetime. Once the pledge has been given, the die is cast and the soul is in thrall to whatever spiritual force it has given its allegiance to.

From his time in the Philippines, MacArthur understood that a Japanese soldier in service to the Emperor could not be defeated short of annihilation because of the way Imperial Japan was configured. Each individual soldier was part of something stretching backwards and forwards in time that crossed the boundary between the living and the dead. State Shinto had tapped into the local power supply at every village shrine and hamlet and added it to the grid. The only way to ultimately defeat something like this was to dismantle it.

Fortunately, what is true for Shinto's negatives (how it might be utilized for militarism) is also true for its positives (how it might be utilized for community). In a chapter called "Shrine Festivals and Their Changing Place in the Public Sphere" Hardacre shows us that Shinto festivals are very much a part of contemporary Japan. While visits to Yasukuni Shrine and the separation of church and state remain controversial, the vast majority of Shinto observances and rituals are peaceful and life affirming. State Shinto may be gone, but the Kami are very much with us.

From the review published in Kyoto Journal 90.

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Jerrod

386 reviews

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April 8, 2020

I hate to abandon books like this. Usually, dry, academic writing doesn't bother me, but this is just an info dump without much unifying structure or attempt at story-telling. There were many instances where I found myself thinking that I would read 150 pages about a subject that Hardacre spent one paragraph on, but overall I would not recommend this. The competition between shrines and temples was most interesting but was the topic that had the least in depth treatment. I would have read an entire chapter on licensure and certification. Perhaps if this had been organized by topic rather than chronologically, it would have been more interesting.

I think it is becoming clearer to me that broad, sweeping histories are usually not done well. For a good example of religious history, read Eire's Reformations.

Notes:

- practice of commendation became prominent in the 11th century, where a local proprietor would "commend" a parcel of land to a shrine (which made that parcel immune from taxation) and that proprietor would usually continue as caretaker of that land.

- by the late Heian period, Buddhism had become dominant among the court and aristocracy

- centralized administration of shrines dissolved during the medieval period

- during the medieval period Shinto/non-Buddhist practices began to develop rituals and philosophies that gradually became less subordinate to buddhism - Kami and Buddhist deities developed from being seen as somewhat natural forces to enforcers of moral principles

- undergoing religious rites essentially bestowed a credential on priest, allowing them more knowledge and more authority in their practice at local shrines (making them stronger competitors in relation to nearby shrines)

- throughout the history of Shinto (particularly through the medieval period), genealogies that included various deities were highly desirable to various elites

- Watarai Shinto (developing in 1256) began to relativize Buddhism and integrate non-Buddhist texts- by the early 13th century, temple-shrine complexes had become the largest landowners in the country (e.g. Enryakuji had more than 3800 buildings in 20 sq. km. with 3000 priest in residence and had at least 370 branches across the country)

- Shinto during the medieval developed from focusing mostly as a royal/sovereign collection of beliefs and rites that had a more public practice to one of performing private ritual and transmitting "secret" knowledge- most divinities worshipped in rear and underground chambers of medieval shrines are not found in the Kojiki or Nihon shoki

- sacred dance and music developed into entertainment. in the 13th century there were complaints that jinin (shrine personnel) taking the miko to perform at private parties involving alcohol and vulgar dancing (this lead in some cases to the jinin's houses being destroyed in addition to them losing their position at the shrine

- shrine paintings that were made for aristocrats were also copied in inexpensive form and used by itinerant religious proselytizers to attract crowds. The public explanations of the pictures helped pilgrims find their way through a complicated site or to explain doctrine

- in the 13th century, religious institutions were able to successfully protests some decisions by the royal court through the court's fear of divine retribution

- in the mid- to late-15th century Yoshida Kanetomo became a prominent religious official supporting a view the Japan was not a peripheral sphere in cosmogonical terms, but central. He pushed for state support of Shinto

- in the 14th century (due to the lack of tribute coming from imperial court) the Ise shrines became dependent on nearby peasants, so they had to offer commercialized ritual services that met the locals religious needs and desires

- Kanetomo issued certificates raising ranks (requests for certificates came with lavish gifts the provided Kanetomo a handsome income) to individuals or individual shrines, instead of to all shrines or groups of shrines

- Kanetomo began conducting esoteric transmissions to outside couriers, warriors, and Buddhist monks, usually in conjunction with soliciting patronage and official recognition

- In 1449, the Outer Shrine at Ise blockaded the road to the Inner Shrine leading to a cycle of attacks through 1489

- Kanetomo's authority was not necessarily accepted beyond the capital and the major shrines

- In the medieval period, regional priestly associations formed around an area's most powerful shrine, with the head priest determining ranks, titles, and vestments that subordinates could use

- The Yoshida house began issuing indulgences which undermined the authority regional associations

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Matthew Gurteen

420 reviews

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April 17, 2021

A pervasive and formal history of Japan's 'native' religion. I enjoyed reading about the origins of Shinto from the ancient period to modern media's approach to the Kami and worship. Shinto: A History is an incredibly well-research academic text, although I certainly felt like I was in over my head with a lot of it. This is not a book for someone who knows nothing about Shinto, nor is it for someone who, like me, has some knowledge of the religion but is mostly uninformed. Instead, only someone well-versed in Shinto history will be able to appreciate this text fully. Hardacre could have made it more approachable for the everyday reader. Ultimately this was not her intention, however, so I can't judge the book for that. For anyone who is going to read it, know that it is a heavily academic text. I have a similar background, but I struggled with how the information is presented in this book. The inclusion of illustrations from the author's own collection did help explain points, but there are not many of them.

Although, for the most part, it was well-written, some passages were repetitive and had odd-word choices, possible due to translation. I did not appreciate Hardacre repeatedly calling the more impoverished people of Japan from all periods 'commoners.' Again, maybe this was an aspect of translation. It felt condescending and out of place in an otherwise modern formal text, however.

Overall, as I said above, I could only really recommend this book to someone who is incredibly interested in Shinto and/or has a background researching it. I enjoyed reading it, and I am glad to have it on my shelves. I cannot see myself referring back to it in the future, however.

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Nicolette

179 reviews

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November 30, 2017

I think "slog" is the right word for this, but remove any negative connotation because it's one of the most comprehensive, detailed, and thorough books on Shinto I've ever read. It will take you through each dynasty in detail, along with rich descriptions of that period of time, the current socioeconomic and political climate, and of course how Shinto was evolving as a spiritual set of rituals, and as a "religion." Words like "religion" "spiritual" "State religion" are all contextualized for the place and time, and also against the creation myths associated with them that bring color to history. It's complicated relationship and interplay with Buddhism is explored as well. We see Shinto's context in a rural sense, governed by nature, and what happens when man places its hands on it to exert influence and rule. The details of the rituals were rich and multi-faceted, and the illustrations were extremely appreciated though, reading a hardcover edition, the tables were a little frustrating only because turning the heavy book sort of took me out of the experience a bit.

Summarily, this is something I want on my shelf. The bibliography and footnotes would keep me occupied for days, and there are definitely more primary resources to explore.

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Amanda

117 reviews

February 8, 2021

I absolutely loved this book. It gives a good overview of the Shinto religion and its role in history, although I should state that it does not go into as much detail on the topics as I wish it would have liked (but for the length of the book, it does an effective job of explaining the basics). The way the different topics are organized and the way each is presented and written are well done. It is not an in-depth look at the Shinto religion itself, but it is a great book to introduce historical significance and related issues. I would recommend it for people interested in the topic, but not for people outside of academia. I could see this book as a good textbook for an introductory course on Shinto as it does have well-written sections that could be assigned as readings that match up with important topics.

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Christopher

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July 19, 2017

Extremely detailed and thorough. Very much on the topic of an institutional and cultural history. Be warned it is a bit of a slog but a rewarding one.

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Shaitanah

277 reviews

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May 28, 2021

Incredibly informative and quite absorbing, though the style is a little too academic for my taste.

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Ashley

94 reviews

December 27, 2022

A really deep look at the history of Shinto. Another one of my "long reads". Maybe it'll be this time next year before I finish it!

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Joe Wang

1 review

June 18, 2023

A very good history of Japanese Shinto and Helen Hardacre is a real specialist in this area.

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Raymond Paquette

900 reviews

February 24, 2023

My friend mentioned some of the stories mentioned in the book. How Ninigi chose the beautiful woman to be his bride after he descended and rejected the ugly sister. In doing so he also rejected immortality for death. I had never heard that one before. In addition I’ve always thought Japan was quite matrilineal, with the woman having more power, but followed a patrilineal culture. Its roots may go back to the 7th and 8th century, or it may not. That’s the fun part of history. It can mean anything you want it too. I’ve lived here a while and the amount of stories I don’t know but still see flavoring the culture today is exciting to explore.

The first four chapters dictate the rise of early Shinto and its association with Buddhism. Compared to the sophistication of Buddhism Shinto seemed simple and associated with the popular movements of the time. It never disappeared from the Japanese perspective and could cause profound damage if disrespected. Or so was believed. It never became as important as Buddhism but it was always necessary.

As I get closer to the end of the book I think I can recognize that the idea of Shinto became more important than the practice itself. The Japanese government tried to classify it as a cultural necessity not a religion. As long as you worshiped at the shrines you were welcome to hold another religion, provided it didn`t interfere with Shinto. Even today many say they are born Shinto and the die Buddhist.

Today I have been to many shrines and while they are quite beautiful they are never busy. As a religion Shinto doesn’t really stand out and has a negative association with the government but its quietness is exactly what makes it so unique and interesting.

=====

vii

CONTENT S

Acknowledgments ix

Notes for the Reader xiii

Introduction 1

1. Shinto in the Ancient Period 17

2. The Kami in Myth 47

3. The Coalescence of Early Shinto 71

4. Shinto during the Middle and Late Heian Period, Tenth through Twelfth Centuries 109

5. The Esotericization of Medieval Shinto 147

6. Medieval Shinto and the Arts 177

7. The Late Medieval Period 207

8. Early Edo-Period Shinto Thought and Institutions 235

9. Edo-Period Shrine Life and Shrine Pilgrimage 263

10. Shinto and Revelation 299

11. Shinto and Kokugaku 323

12. Shinto and the Meiji State 355

13. Shinto and Imperial Japan 403

14. Shinto from 1945 through 1989 441

15. Shrine Festivals and Their Changing Place in the Public Sphere 475

16. Heisei Shinto 509

Appendix: Shrine Funding 551 Selected List of Characters 557 Chronology 573

Abbreviations 587

Notes 589

Bibliography 659

Index 681

At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors eBook : Jeung, Russell, Gene Luen Yang: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

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Russell Jeung's spiritual memoir shares the difficult, often joyful, and sometimes harrowing account of his life in East Oakland's Murder Dubs neighborhood and of his Chinese-Hakka history.

On a journey to discover how the poor and exiled are blessed, At Home in Exile is the story of his integration of social activism and a stubborn evangelical faith.

Holding English classes in his apartment (which doubled as a food pantry for a local church) for undocumented Latino neighbors and Cambodian refugees, battling drug dealers who threatened him, exorcising a spirit possessing a teen, and winning a landmark housing settlement against slumlords with a gathering of his neighbors—Jeung's story is, by turns, moving and inspiring, traumatic and exuberant.

As Jeung retraces the steps of his Chinese-Hakka family and his refugee neighbors, weaving the two narratives together, he asks difficult questions about longing and belonging, wealth and poverty, and how living in exile can transform your faith:

"Not only did relocation into the inner city press me toward God, but it made God's words more distinct and clear to me...As I read Scriptures through the eyes of those around me—refugees and aliens—God spoke loudly to me his words of hope and truth."

With humor, humility, and keen insight, he describes the suffering and the sturdiness of those around him and of his family. He relates the stories of forced relocation and institutional discrimination, of violence and resistance, and of the persistence of Christ's love for the poor.

215 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Zondervan

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"Activist. Theologian. Hakka. Chinese American. Follower of Jesus. These words describe Russell Jeung and yet do not fully comprehend the story he has crafted in this masterful book. Part autobiography, part community history, and part liberation lived theology, At Home in Exile captures the heart and soul of following Jesus through living in community among the poor in Oakland. Follow and be transformed."--The Rev. Dr. Frank M. Yamada, President, McCormick Theological Seminary

"An important biblical theme is that God speaks to His people while they are in movement, migrating or in exile. Russell Jeung invites us to recognize that we learn about God and about what God is doing when we live into our own experience of exile and choose to live and minister among migrants and exiles. At Home in Exile is autobiography, theology, and missiology. This book challenges us to see that exile is a unique place to serve God and to learn about how God is at work in the world."--Juan Francisco Martínez, Professor of Pastoral Leadership and Hispanic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

"At Home in Exile is more than exploring Asian-American identity, although that certainly undergirds the story. Russell Jeung's journey is also one of deep Christian faith, committed urban life, and community activism, which together convey a compelling challenge for all followers of Jesus---namely, to embrace our ultimate identity as exiles in Christ who can speak truth to power in all cultures."--Al Tizon, Executive Minister of Serve Globally, Evangelical Covenant Church

"At Home in Exile is the incredible story of a committed Christian disciple living in a poor, drug-infested, and refugee-ghetto neighborhood of Oakland, CA. As an evangelical Stanford-educated professor and a fifth-generation Chinese American, Jeung has tried to live out Jesus in this neighborhood as an exile in the US, suffering alongside refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Burma and undocumented Hispanics. He sees the church as a mother and a home providing hope for compassion for the downtrodden, the disinherited, and the disheartened. His autobiography is truly captivating, inspiring, and moving, challenging all of us on a fundamental level to re-examine our lives of following Jesus."--Andrew Sung Park, Professor of Theology and Ethics, United Theological Seminary

"Displacement and longing for a home are not only a contemporary reality for many, but also an interweaving thread throughout the Biblical Narratives. Russell Jeung's account of his family history and diasporic calling are profoundly moving and inspiring to all Christ followers. In these stories we learn how to journey like Jesus and make sense of our own wanderings and hope for our eternal destiny."--Dr. Sam George, Executive Director, Parivar International, and Co-editor of Malayali Diaspora: From Kerala to the Ends of the World

"I can't remember the last time that I read a memoir where I was laughing hysterically and weeping uncontrollably in back-to-back paragraphs. With much talk about justice among evangelicals these days, Russell Jeung offers the real story of an honest, embodied life of justice. If every student I have ever taught said they wanted to be the next Russell Jeung---nothing would make me more proud. Please read this book."--Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary; Author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament

"I know Russell Jeung to be a world-class academic, but he is quite unlike many scholars in that he lives out his resulting convictions in his daily life. That by itself is highly noteworthy. However, as demonstrated in this remarkable book, Jeung is also unlike the typical scholar in that he is a masterful and compelling storyteller, taking the reader not just into the daily lives of impoverished immigrants in Oakland, CA, but also inside his own struggles and transformation as he comes to identify with the poor. His talent for narrating these intermingled stories caused me to think more deeply about my own story as a grandson of immigrants from China. And as a devout Christian, it also made me question many of my own choices to avoid regularly intersecting my life with poor immigrants, especially those from parts of Asia that are in my own backyard. By showing himself to be a flawed and humble example of someone who clearly wants to follow Jesus, Jeung manages both to inspire and instruct the reader to take concrete steps in the direction of "the least of these."--Rev. Dr. Ken Uyeda Fong, Executive Director, Asian American Initiative and Assistant Professor of Asian American Church Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

"I've gotten to know Dr. Russell Jeung these past few years. I've stayed in his home. I've visited the men and women he has served. I've witnessed his sacrificial love for the Cambodian families and other refugee families in Oak Park. He is an inspiration to me and to those who know and respect him. His book about his life with Cambodian refugees reveals the strength and depth of my people."--Ken Kong, Director, Southeast Asian Ministries-- The Navigators; Director, Southeast Asian Catalyst

"In a watershed moment for refugees and immigrants, Russell Jeung felicitously reminds us of God's love for the least of these. This book powerfully illuminates the plight of the poor and disenfranchised while pointing towards the hope that is rooted and ultimately found in cruciform communities that express their faith in love."--Dominique Gilliard, Board of Directors, Christian Community Development Association

"Jeung takes us into a decades-long journey of relocation into an urban com- munity. He writes with the insights borne from lived experiences. Jeung writes with the acuity of a scholar, the heart of a pastor, and the soul of a Christ follower. A compelling commentary on consumerism, materialism, success, patriarchy, power, and marginality. At Home in Exile is informed by Jeung's Asian American identity; he gives tremendous insights for people of all backgrounds. His family history takes the reader through a journey that touches on Hollywood's history, immigration history, the emergence and destruction of Chinatowns, and family and social services. It is a portrait of the unexpected way perceptions of race touch many of society's institutions---which has surprising implications for today's contentious issues."--Nikki Toyama-Szeto, Director, International Justice Mission (IJM) Institute for Biblical Justice; Author of God of Justice

"Many times, it is so easy to get severed from one's root and faith along the way of pursuing the American Dream in the US. It is heartening to read the life of one whom God blesses with many achievements and yet does not get disconnected from one's faith and root. I am confident that this book will inspire many others to participate more in their "exile" communities and find it at home there."--Kenneth VanBik, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and Language Development, San Jose State University

"Russell Jeung has taken elements of the Christian faith and theology, the US West Coast Asian American history/experience, life in my beloved Oakland, CA, and his own life, and woven them together in a way that is educational, engaging, and authentic. He wrestles with some of the deeper complexities of urban ministry, community justice, Christian community, life calling, and family safety in a way that gives the issues their due challenge and also gives the reader some helps on how to navigate them with intellectual and personal integrity. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing how a humble "Disney princess" has sought to be faithful to his heritage, his community, his calling, his family, and his God."--Rev. Phil Bowling-Dyer, Director of Diversity Training, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

"Russell Jeung is a rare person who embodies courage, authenticity, and integrity in a culture of consumption and assimilation. Unlike other books, At Home in Exile is a page turner because the author, as one of the residents, narrates the stories of Oak Park community of refugees and migrants. It is among the poor and broken, in which Jeung, a fifth-generation Hakka Chinese American, experiences the beloved community that resonates with the early Christian community under imperial Roman culture. Jeung takes the readers on his intimately courageous journey who enter into his world with a sense of belonging and ancestral roots. This is a must-read book for the homeless mind on this shore that longs to retrieve buried memories and roots for social change."--Rev. Young Lee Hertig, PhD, Cofounder/Executive Director, ISAAC/AAWOL (Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity) (Asian American Women on Leadership)

"Russell Jeung writes with great compassion, insight, clarity, and humor about his remarkable faith journey as an Asian American Christian. This book is required reading for anyone interested in race, religion, and social justice. Prepare to laugh, cry, and transform with Russell Jeung!"--Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California at Berkeley

"Russell Jeung's book At Home in Exile, at first glance, may be read as a wild adventure tale of ragtag bunch of misfits in exile, whether it be Russell---a descendant of the Hakkas, or the Cambodian refugee grandmother, or the African American gang members who stole his laptop, or the veteran who keeps waiting for his big check---all living in public housing complex. But it is so much more as he weaves the stories of their lives to lift up social injustice, racism, poverty, and obeying Jesus in a delightful storytelling! I was inspired, challenged, and my faith and conscience pricked at times reading Russell's obedience of truly walking amongst and embracing the poor. At the same time, his transparency of his own humanness facing at times the raw reality of humanity and poverty and living in a crime- driven neighborhood makes his faith ever more real. Finally, I was inspired to want to do more as he shares the beauty, joy, life, and hope that can be found even amongst the poor and those in exile and the interconnectedness amongst all of us."--Hyepin Im, President and CEO, Korean Churches for Community Development

"Russell Jeung's memoir of life in East Oakland is warm, humorous, and challenging. He wears his learning lightly, but it's obvious that he can teach us a thing or two about the way faith affects life."--Tim Stafford, General Editor, God's Justice: The Holy Bible

"Russell's life journey is a prophetic challenge to our Evangelical affluent upward mobile suburban culture. A rarity among privileged Ivy-Leagued Asian American upbringing, his story is a must read for those who are considering a life with a purpose beyond a white picket fence in an upscale suburban neighborhood. The various lives mentioned in At Home in Exile fulfill a longing to see modern-day monastic examples of those who have given up the American dream for an intentional life of hardship and danger for the sake of the gospel. Written as a narrative of intriguing relationships through communal living, Russell's humor and raw wittiness is accompanied with deeper theological reflection. As a Hakka, a "guest" in exile living among refugees, Russell reminds us of the simple gospel message---that as incarnate sojourners in a broken world, we find Jesus and trust that the Kingdom is near."--David Ro, Director of the Christy Wilson Center at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; East Asia Regional Director for the Lausanne Movement

"Russell's life long journey to live incarnationally will tug at your heart, fill your mind, and convict your soul. The story of Oak Park is a gritty life-on-life ministry that shows how a lived-out calling can bring personal discovery, multiplied disciples, and community transformation."--Tommy Dyo, Strategic Partnerships and Development, Epic Movement, a Cru Ministry --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author

Dr. Russell Jeung is a leading sociologist of Asian Americans, race, and religion. He is professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and author of Sustaining Faith Traditions: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion among the Latino and Asian American Second Generation (with Carolyn Chen) and Faithful Generations: Race, Religion, and Asian American Churches. Dr. Jeung is also executive producer of Prophetic Voices, a social media project addressing key social issues of the Asian American community within and in the public square. He serves as Board Chair of New Hope Covenant Church and lives with his family in East Oakland, CA. Along with his wife, Dr. Dr. Joan Jeung, they have two foster daughters from Burma and a son.--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01CXDN2TM
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zondervan (4 October 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1136 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 215 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 031052783XBest Sellers Rank: 1,022,383 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)365 in Religious Studies - Sociology
853 in Religion & Sociology
891 in Sociology of ReligionCustomer Reviews:
4.9 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

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4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
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Top reviews from other countries

Brian Hui
5.0 out of 5 stars Re-explores faith through the lens of a powerless exile (like Jesus)Reviewed in the United States on 5 October 2016
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This is a truly unique book. And the best book I've read this year. Part memoir / sociology / theology / Asian corny hilariousness. It's funny, it's educational, it's deeply moving.

Russell moves into and ultimately finds home in the Murder Dubs of Oakland. But it's not a triumphant American superhero story. Nor is it a sappy romance about 'the poor.' It's a complex, humble story about how he found community, identity, and ultimately Jesus in his mostly Cambodia refugee & Latino neighborhood.

It's a story that asks: What if Jesus wasn't as much an American superhero, but more like a Chinese Hakka exile (his ancestors)? What if Jesus was more like my Chinatown grandma than that powerful hipster pastor I'm always jealous of? He re-explores things like MISSION, JUSTICE, COMMUNITY, FAMILY & CALLING through this lens.

I finished this book richly proud of my Chinese ancestry, broken over the plight of disenfranchised non-model-minority Asians in the Bay Area, hopeful about what God is still doing through amazing yet mostly "invisible" people, but challenged to live my faith in a way that may run counter to the power and reward structures of our world.
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F. Mok
5.0 out of 5 stars Nerdy Asianz in the HoodReviewed in the United States on 21 October 2016
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An awkward Asian American intellectual reflects on being a missionary exile in East Oakland

Russell Jeung’s new book is called At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus among My Ancestors & Refugee Neighbors. An alternate title could have been "Nerdy Asianz in the Hood".

Make no mistake about it - Russell Jeung is a nerd. He absolutely fits the model minority stereotype. How to tell? Exhibit A: When you graduate from world-renown Lowell High School in San Francisco, get a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford University, and then later obtain a PhD from UC Berkeley. Check those boxes for Jeung. He now works as a sociology professor at San Francisco State University.

I met Jeung for the first time at his book launch. Exhibit B: When you are decidedly unimposing physically. Jeung doesn’t wear glasses but his look fits the nerd mold. He is rail thin and doesn’t appear to do any strength training. His body language is awkward and although a fluid public speaker, had trouble speaking into the mic.

After graduating from Stanford, instead of taking the high-speed on-ramp into a Silicon Valley tech job, his journey takes an abrupt left turn off the freeway. Jeung didn’t spend a week in the hood, like the typical urban “missionary". He didn’t spend a summer or even a year.

He lived in the Murder Dubs of East Oakland for twenty years.

The neighborhood surrounding 23rd Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland has been the epicenter of the city's drug dealing and violent crime since the 1990s. I didn't notice any drug deals happening when I parked in the neighborhood but I was nervous about my car being broken into. I was also surprised by how many people in the the neighborhood were of Asian descent.

Jeung’s perspective of the hood is neither patronizing nor glamorous. He comes from a place of humility. The hood taught him about life, the gospel, and justice in a way that suburban existence could not. He recounts life at the Oak Park Apartments as an incredible learning experience. The Cambodian refugees living there taught him profound lessons about hospitality and community. The lessons did not come easy. Jeung recounts an instance when his laptop was stolen by a neighbor and he attempts to buy it back from a shady character named Roach:
Wanting to catch my enemy, I reported this information to the Oakland Police Department. They said I should arrange a meeting time, and then they would wiretap me under my clothes. I could obtain a verbal confession from the thief, and then they would swoop in for the arrest. As this was the stuff of television cop shows, I was all in. I arranged a meeting time and place with Roach and got my cash payment in mint condition, small denominations. Then I contacted the sergeant of OPD Robbery Division, reporting that the “eagle has almost landed.” The sergeant checked, and then informed that the electronics technician was away on vacation. “Jeez,” I thought, “no wonder no one ever calls the police.” pg. 47
Exhibit C of nerdiness: When you say the “eagle has almost landed” to a police officer. This kind of geek humor occurs throughout the book. The humor underscores an important theme in the book - the marginalized view government institutions with well-founded suspicion. Governing authorities tend to benefit the privileged and being poor is more about powerlessness and alienation than simply a lack of financial resources.

Jeung also discusses his Chinese ancestry. He writes:
I feel slightly proud about being Chinese in the United States, because I was different and unique. But then I thought about it. There are about 1.4 billion Chinese in the world. What’s so special about being one of every five humans on earth? Perhaps I stood out because I was Chinese American, an overseas Chinese. Yet that’s not a unique status, either. There are 47 million others just like me. That’s not special Disney material at all. pg. 54
Exhibit D: When you cite global statistics regarding your ethnicity. And yet this ambivalence about ethnic identity resonated with me. I want to feel special about my Chinese heritage but it doesn’t feel very special given the numbers. Undeterred, Jeung researches his family’s history and discovers his Hakka roots. The Hakka are an ancient Chinese tribe who were known for being “ rebels, nomads, and pirates”. He recounts some fascinating history of discrimination against his ancestors in Monterey, California. His comments at the end of this chapter are helpful and inspiring to me:
Unlike Americans, who value egalitarian relationships, the Chinese recognize the hierarchical nature of relationships that have uneven power dynamics. Since it is easy for those with power to become paternalistic or patronizing when they serve others, we must learn Christ’s humility and self-emptying. . . When doing ministry, our joy and strength cannot be based on our own success or power. We receive these gifts only when being guests of the King and recognizing our limitations while in exile. pg.115
In 2000, Oak Park Ministries, the advocacy group Jeung helped found, won a lawsuit to revamp their dilapidated apartment complex. The apartments were rebuilt and many of the kids received their own bedroom and yet the renovations (fencing, security gates, and lighting) changed the atmosphere and culture of the apartments. Jung reflects candidly:
Whenever I get together with Oak Park youth, we fondly recall the old days of pandemonium and rue the new Oak Park. Our story of community organizing for justice didn’t necessarily have a happily-ever-after ending. We obtained justice, but lost a bit of community. pg. 141
In line with Jeung’s themes, Disney fairy tale endings are for the movies. In the pursuit of justice, we can fall prey to idealistic notions of success. That’s not the nature of urban ministry and the reality of a broken, fallen, sin-cursed world. We can deceive ourselves with metrics indicating we’re making a difference and I deeply appreciate Jeung’s willingness to face truth at the expense of his ego.

Chapter 5 is my favorite. It’s a story of nerdy Asian American courtship and parenting. This is Jeung’s first impression upon meeting his future wife, Joan (pronounced Joe-Ann):
Instead, I opened the door to a magical scene as if The Lord of the Rings had been set in East Oakland. In front of me, I gazed upon an elfin creature - if you can picture a Korean American female elf - with the sweetest, most delicate heart-shaped face. . . After the Oak Park community met Joan, members gathered and formed the Fellowship of the Ring. They recognized that I had been a bachelor far too long, and the fellowship initiated a collective quest to convince Joan to marry me. Such a venture was quite perilous, and many hearts has already been broken in vain attempts to secure such a ring. pg. 152-153
Exhibit E and F of geekiness: When your first impression of your wife-to-be evokes a scene from Lord of the Rings AND when your friends deem you incapable of wooing a woman on your own and form a team to aid you. On early dates, he talks about getting into arguments with Joan about how to shuffle a deck of cards - Jeung prefers the riffle shuffle because it “more elegantly and efficiently randomizes the cards”. This guy is too much.

I love how he talks about Asian American parenting, particularly the obsession with our children’s education. This is the sacred cow of overachieving Asian American parents. It’s a controversial topic in their New Hope Covenant Church community. Oakland has two distinct socioeconomic areas - the flatlands encompassing East Oakland where the student population is overwhelmingly low-income and the hills where the schools boast wealthier families and higher test scores. Panda Dad Jeung and his Tiger Mom-ish wife compromise and send their son to a higher performing flatland school. He also discusses the journey of how he and his wife fostered two Bumese teenage girls into adoption. All of this discussion centers around the theme of our shared identity as exiles - we belong neither here nor there - and therefore, to sink deep roots as we invest in and love the city and its exiles (Jeremiah 29).

In the end, Jeung is the exception that proves the rule.

He is a nerd only because of his intelligence, awkwardness, and education. But I know hundreds of nerdy Asians including yours truly and he resembles none of them where it counts. At the core, a nerd is fearful, passive, and insecure. Jeung does not check those boxes. Two attributes stand out about him:

Humble courage: Urban ministry requires a sense of adventure but it takes an entirely different category of courage to embed yourself in a marginalized community for twenty years. It requires humility to come as a guest - in the posture of a learner - and to recognize your impact will not be immediate, broad, or widely recognized. You die to the idealism and walk in simple obedience to love your neighbor. You may experience more of the gospel first-hand than what you impart to others.

Self-awareness without self-loathing: I used to hate being Chinese American. I hated feeling out of place in the US and out of place in Asia. Even today, the awareness of being a cultural exile tempts me to resent my ethnic identity. I see that among my peers. We don’t quite know what to do with our Asian-ness. It’s so easy to hate on our immigrant parents and their backward cultural values. But Jeung’s memoir points to the truth of the gospel: that every culture has redemptive elements. Let us therefore celebrate the gospel values we have inherited from both Asian and American cultures. In this, there is a Spirit-filled self-awareness that is not self-loathing.

At the book launch, when asked who the intended audience of the book was, Jeung replied it was primarily for the Asian American church. He explained we’re often perceived as bridge builders but bridges are trampled on. He wrote this spiritual memoir to highlight how our unique cultural perspective plays a vital role in the American church. Our value of community and humility against the backdrop of an individualistic and self-promoting society make us the destination rather than the means.
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S. Lee
4.0 out of 5 stars Honest and heartwarming, with a dash of jokes.Reviewed in the United States on 18 September 2017
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The grandeur of this autobiography is not the grand things Russell has done or experienced (as jaw-dropping as some of them are). No, rather, it is his candor and glee. Russell, it seems to me, does not seem obliged to write an embellished, poetic lore of his conquests and defeats. Instead, he slips in “dad jokes” (at least, I would categorize them as such or “professorial jokes”) here and there — not taking himself too seriously. What he does take seriously are the joys and sorrows of his life with his community — Oak Park and his family. The first half is dominated by OPM (Oak Park Ministry) and the second half his nuclear family: the highs and lows of each. The highs are definitely eye-opening wonders, but the lows are heart-wrenchingly painful. And such are the stuff of life.

Russell, whether with intention or not, seems to tug at Asian American Christian (particularly Evangelicals) hearts. Though he did not blow out of proportion the prestigious sacrifices he made (such as going to Stanford for undergraduate but devoted a bulk of his life living with the marginalized in mold and roach infested apartments and turning down two promising academic careers to be with his church’s community), any Asian American pressured by the model minority myth will be keen on these sacrifices, especially. I doubt Russell shared this to make us feel guilty or shamed (even more than we might already feel!), but to offer his life as one example of a non-model-minority Asian American Evangelical (though the other extreme to avoid is moralistic Asian American Evangelicals…!).

Towards the end, he seems to make a Christian endorsement of Confucian systems (esp, food and sacrificial forms of love). This isn’t to say Confucianism must be adopted by Asian/Asian American Christians, nor that it is 100% sanctified. No, Russell seems to say that Confucianism affected his life in more ways than one, which God graciously adopted and used to sanctify him and his community.

The other motifs Russell used, exile and hakka, are worthy of further reflection. But, alas, this post is already too long.

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Jerrbear
5.0 out of 5 stars Living out one's faith by exampleReviewed in the United States on 25 July 2017
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a fascinating memoir of a 6th generation Chinese American Christian who discovered that his own spirituality and life-changing decisions are tied to the little-known experiences of the early Chinese Americans. Jeung combines his PhD in sociology, his evangelical penchant for Bible-verse-dropping, and his own sense of humor in an accessible way that should be read by many who want to understand a different path within American Christianity, one that invites us to inhabit the same space as the marginalized, advocate on their behalf when necessary, and simply be a friend. Highly recommend.
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PeggyTraveller
5.0 out of 5 stars A 'Must Read' for Concerned CitizensReviewed in the United States on 22 April 2017
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This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about our country, about broken promises to immigrants who helped our armed forces and about the state of well-being of many citizens. It also outlines some of the disgraceful treatment of immigrants to California by our famed 'Robber Barons.'

It is a book that should be assigned as required reading for every member of the US Congress, Executive and Judiciary. Perhaps these affluent and uncaring because often (willfully) blind people .would learn something important.
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Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans:Jeung, Russell M., Fong, Seanan S., Kim, Helen Jin: Books

Amazon.com: Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans: 9780190875923: Jeung, Russell M., Fong, Seanan S., Kim, Helen Jin: Books

Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans

Illustrated Edition
by Russell M. Jeung (Author), Seanan S. Fong (Author), Helen Jin Kim (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

Fifty-two percent of Chinese Americans report having no religious affiliation, making them the least religiously-identified ethnic group in the United States. But that statistic obscures a much more complex reality. Family Sacrifices reveals that Chinese Americans employ familism, not religion, as the primary narrative by which they find meaning, identity, and belonging.

As a transpacific lived tradition, Chinese American familism prioritizes family above other commitments and has roots in Chinese Popular Religion and Confucianism. The spiritual and ethical systems of China emphasize practicing rituals and cultivating virtue, whereas American religious research usually focuses on belief in the supernatural or belonging to a religious tradition.

To address this gap in understanding, Family Sacrifices introduces the concept of liyi, translated as ritual propriety and righteous relations.

Re-appropriated from its original Chinese usage, liyi offers a new way of understanding Chinese religion and a new lens for understanding the emergence of religious "nones" in the United States. The first book based on national survey data on Asian American religious practices,
Family Sacrifices is a seminal text on the fastest-growing racial group in the United States.

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礼义 Trad. 禮義

lǐ yì

righteousness

justice

==
Editorial Reviews

Review

"The strengths are that - in a compact book - so many avenues for research have been opened." -- Brett J. Esaki, University of Arizona, Religion

"Family Sacrifices is accessible reading for undergraduates and graduate students. It is a must read for scholars interested in reevaluating what is, and what is not, religious in a time in which institutional affiliations are declining rapidly, yet belief in the supernatural remains vibrant...
Family Sacrifices provides an important first step into a more robust social scientific study of religion." -- Jerry Z. Park, Baylor University

"Family Sacrifices is an important volume, given the increasing prominence of Chinese Americans in American society and politics... Family Sacrifices offers a new conceptual approach toward understanding American religious nones by applying the ritual-ethical framework of liyi to the American
context. The book does this well by focusing on praxis rather than belief in order to eschew the religious-secular dichotomy that religion scholars have employed in examining religious nones." -- Steven Hu, University of California, Santa Barbara, Koninklijke Brill NV

"Family Sacrifices is a worthy addition...representing a significant attempt by sociologists to think deeply about ethnicity and religion and provide the reader with an essential partanswer to and a better understanding of a complex question. This book, therefore, is situated well for students and
researchers who are interested in the topics of spirituality, Chinese religions, and Asian Americans' religiosity." -- Di Di, Santa Clara University, Sociology of Religion

"Family Sacrifices is accessible reading for undergraduates and graduate students. It is a must read for scholars interested in reevaluating what is, and what is not, religious in a time in which institutional affiliations are declining rapidly, yet belief in the supernatural remains vibrant." --
Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"Family Sacrifices is a fascinating and important contribution to understanding how Chinese cultural, ethical and religious traditions are passed on in the United States. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand both the Chinese-American experience and Asian-American religions." --
Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California

"Family Sacrifices debunks popular myths about of Chinese American religiosity. The authors offer a nuanced, culturally sensitive and powerful analysis of Chinese American familism as a hybridized and transpacific lived tradition rooted in Chinese Confucianism and folk religion and illuminate the
presence of rituals and moral boundary systems among non-religious Americans. A major breakthrough in the field of religious studies." -- Min Zhou, Professor and Walter & Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in US-China Relations & Communications, University of California, Los Angeles

"This is a book on Chinese American religious life that we have been waiting for. It addresses longstanding sociological puzzles about the apparent lack of religious life of Chinese Americans, and it takes on the complex moral and religious discourses and practices of the so-called hyphenated
Americans, for whom their immigrant heritage is still an essential part of life. What this nuanced ethnographic account shows is that the case of Chinese Americans is both particular and universal, and the superb analysis illustrates the often-hidden habits of the heart of Chinese American life." --
Anna Sun, author of Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities

About the Author

Dr. Russell M. Jeung is Chair and Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. The author of books and articles on Asian Americans, religion, and race, he's a community activist and church leader in East Oakland, California. Dr. Jeung's memoir, At Home in Exile, shares his
family's six generations in the US and his life with refugees.

Seanan S. Fong is a writer and Unitarian Universalist minister with a focus on serving the spiritual needs of Asian Americans. He holds a BA in philosophy from Stanford University and an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School. He also works as a product designer and conflict resolution professional in
San Francisco.

Dr. Helen Jin Kim is Assistant Professor of American Religious History at Emory University. She completed her PhD in the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University and her BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University.

Product details
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (June 6, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages

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Top reviews from the United States

Bay Area User
5.0 out of 5 stars New methodology for analyzing belief systemsReviewed in the United States on June 10, 2019
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I think this book represents a very significant breakthrough in sociology.

In the course of solving the problem of
adequately analyzing the core belief and ethical systems of nonreligious
Chinese Americans, the authors have come up with a methodology and
framework for analyzing belief systems hitherto unknown or at least never formally presented in modern social science, which happens to have originated in the Western World, not the Chinese one. The methodology and framework presented by this book is based on analyzing and classifying the belief system’s values, practices and prescribed behaviors towards others, rather than on analyzing and
classifying the system’s theoretical constructs regarding the supernatural world.

The authors explain that this methodology and framework is actually a modern
reincarnation of the methodology and framework that traditional Chinese thinkers
from ancient times on have analyzed and critiqued the belief systems of other
cultures, and has historically provided the criteria by which the Chinese have
traditionally determined “Chineseness”. Significantly, such criteria have been
ethical or cultural and not racial ones.

I think this methodology and framework can be used not just to analyze Chinese
culture and members of the Chinese culture, but can also be used universally to
analyze any culture and the members of the culture. In my view, the real
contribution of this “new” methodology and framework may lie both in a much
better ability to provide useful ways for different cultures and members of
different cultures to interact, and in a much better ability to predict what reactions
various messages and behaviors will elicit from different cultures and their
members. This would be a very significant contribution indeed in today’s
increasingly globalized and increasingly interdependent world.

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bianca
5.0 out of 5 stars Reframing spirituality, ethics, and identityReviewed in the United States on January 16, 2020
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Through compelling storytelling and well-structured quantitative data, the authors set up and frame Liyi in a way that is accessible and easy to follow. This research provides significant insight on the values and motivations of Chinese Americans. It expands our cultural and academic language to capture the ethics of populations that don't fit neatly into normative sociological constructions of religion. The research moves beyond religion as belief and belonging, and proposes liyi (right relationship sand just behavior) as a more imaginative and expansive framework to capture Chinese American spirituality and values. As a Chinese-American from a non-religious family, this book affirms and celebrates the family rituals and values that make up my spirituality, but were never acknowledged by mainstream western frameworks on religion and identity.

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Russell Yee
5.0 out of 5 stars A deep and helpful dive into one slice of Asian North AmericaReviewed in the United States on June 7, 2019

Released this week, the Netflix movie “Always Be My Maybe” is receiving an enthusiastic and appreciative reception by the Asian American community. Reviews by Asian Americans in national media outlets dwell on this theme: I loved recognizing us, our family and home settings, our relationships with our parents, our food, and our ways of relating to our social settings.

But what values and behaviors actually constitute this recognizable “us”? How did these values and behaviors come about and how do they now function? And might understanding these values and behaviors on their own terms provide useful new sociological insights?

This book, also released this week, is an in-depth look at the values and behaviors of one slice of Asian North America: non-religious second-generation Chinese Americans. It proposes the following:

“Through 58 in-depth interviews and national survey data, [this book] argues that Chinese American familism operates to provide (1) ultimate values about the purpose and meaning in life for Chinese Americans, (2) ethics to guide their relationships and behaviors, and (3) core identities that offer self-understanding and belonging. As a hybridized and transpacific lived tradition, Chinese American familism has its roots in Chinese Confucianism and Chinese Popular Religion. Through the process of migration and adaptation, this lived tradition has continuously transformed and has become distilled. Within a postindustrial, racialized, and multicultural American context today, it pervades how second-generation Chinese Americans conceptualize and maintain their human relationships and responsibilities, as well as how they embody, enact, and transmit the practices of family.” (p. 6).

To develop and apply this concept of “familism,” the authors use the Chinese concept of “liyi” (“li” = correct observances and practices, and “yi” = rightly formed and conducted relationships). Their dense but concise chapters describe the historical origins and development of “liyi”; its transpacific and generational transmission; its adaptation in the bicultural, minority, “foreign” setting of America; and its prospects given current sociological trends.

The text makes a liberal use of quotes and stories from the interviewees, giving a wide portrait of these families and their shared values and behaviors. The range of concrete examples is unsurprising (practices around births, weddings, and funerals; practices concerning ancestors; values around money and careers; practices involving “feng shui” and “qi”; Lunar New Year celebrations; and the legacy of actual Temple worship and related practices) but are described with an engaging level of variety and insight.

The special interest of this book is Chinese American “nones”—the strikingly high (51.8%) portion who do not identify with any particular religion. The 58 interview subjects (listed by name in Appendix B) are all self-described as atheists, agnostics, or spiritual-but-not-religious. By choosing this cohort, the authors press specifically into their question of how values and behaviors get formed and transmitted apart from received belief structures or organized religious traditions. This flows from their insight that western concepts of belief and behavior—focused on exclusive adherence to creedal faiths and their institutional expressions—fall short in trying to describe and understand Chinese worldviews, values, and behaviors. The authors further propose that their use of “liyi” in understanding Chinese American “nones” might also be quite useful in understanding the growing pan-racial cohort of “nones” in America.

The various chapters provide a good overview of Chinese religious history and thought from antiquity to the present. The text uses Pinyin romanzation (though without tone marks) alongside traditional Chinese characters and English glosses. The authors acknowledge and give some attention to distinctions between those of Mainland vs. Taiwan vs. Hong Kong ancestry. There are numerous charts and figures, nine pages of endnotes, and a six-page bibliography.

Reading the book I felt the same way I did watching “Always Be My Maybe”: the pleasure of recognizing “us,” though here in the form of a full scholarly analysis. I was especially grateful for the authors’ proposal of an analytical framework that provides a very promising and helpful alternative to longstanding western approaches.

While I appreciated the tight focus of this book, it also left me wondering how Chinese American values and behaviors compare with those of others, whether other Asian North American groups (some with heritages inside the Confucian Sinosphere and others not), or really just any and every group with recent and ongoing immigration dynamics. To what degree is high family cohesion an inherited legacy of Confucian values and to what degree is it simply a function of generational necessity after migration?

In “Always Be My Maybe,” the adult son Marcus lives out his sense of special responsibility for his (aging but still healthy and working) father’s care. We can attribute this to a Confucian legacy of “yi” family dynamics transmitted through a lifetime of “li” behaviors such as using generational honorifics, deferring to elders at meals, and witnessing parents’ care for grandparents. But taking responsibility for parents is hardly unusual (indeed in historical and global perspective what is unusual is western individualism). A comparative approach might further help reposition Chinese American values and behaviors somewhere better than as a “foreign” presence in American majority culture.

And while the authors make a good case for their choice of “nones” as an object of study, of course this leaves the task of analyzing religiously committed Chinese Americans along these same lines. Thankfully, there is certainly sufficient groundwork here to help pick up that task.

Thank you Russell M. Jeung, Seanan S. Fong, and Helen Jin Kim for taking on this project and carrying it through at such a high level of scholarship, community investment, and personal care.

Russell Yee, PhD
Affiliate Associate Professor
Fuller Theological Seminary

Disclaimer: I was provided a free review copy of this book.

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2022/07/09

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